Ephesians 1:5-6 NKJV
“having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.“
Adopted and Accepted in Christ
MY NOTES
“having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:5–6 (NKJV)
Few things in life are more painful than feeling unwanted, rejected, or constantly evaluated on performance.
Many Christians secretly view God as a stern judge who reluctantly tolerates them rather than a Father who delights in them. We live as if our standing in God’s family is constantly on probation, easily canceled by our next mistake. But in this passage, Paul demolishes that fear by revealing the heart of God’s plan for your life: He didn’t just rescue you; He adopted you.
Romans 8:15
For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
He also decided, ahead of time, that we would be brought all the way into His family. Predestined to adoption as sons. That word carries weight. In the Roman world of Paul’s day, when an adoption was complete, it was complete. The person who had been adopted gained every right of a legitimate son in the new family and lost every tie to the old one. Old debts were wiped out. In the eyes of the law, he was a new person. That’s the picture Paul is drawing. God didn’t merely rescue us from something; He brought us into something—a warm, secure place as His own children.
Galatians 4:4-6
But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”
That is precisely what God accomplished for you through Jesus. You weren’t brought in as a hired hand or a second-class houseguest; you were placed into His family with full rights as an heir. Your past record, past debts, and spiritual poverty were erased forever.
Notice the driving force behind this decision: “according to the good pleasure of His will.”
This wasn’t an afterthought or a reluctant decision. It was according to the good pleasure of His will. God took real delight in the plan. He wasn’t responding to something impressive He saw in us. He was acting out of the freedom of His own heart. And the whole purpose of it is “to the praise of the glory of His grace.” The gospel doesn’t shine the spotlight on our effort or our worth. It puts the glory where it belongs—on the grace of God that reaches people who could never have earned a place in the family.
Then Paul adds one more phrase that settles the heart: “by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” Accepted. Highly favored. Full of grace. Not because we cleaned ourselves up, but because we are in Christ. It’s the same language the angel used when he called Mary “highly favored.” The same grace that rested on her now rests on every believer who is in the Beloved. One old writer put it simply: it’s as if God took a leper and made him into a lovely youth. The change isn’t cosmetic. It’s a complete shift in status. In Christ, the Father looks at us and is well pleased.
Luke 1:28
And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
All of this—the choice, the adoption, the acceptance—flows from grace and returns to grace. It leaves no room for pride, and no room for fear that we might somehow fall out of the family. What God planned according to the good pleasure of His will, He carries out through Jesus. And the result is a people who stand accepted, not in their own name, but in the Beloved.
Let someone know today that you are Accepted. Highly favored. Full of grace. And let them know it’s because our Abba Father chose you!
Prayer
Abba, thank You that You didn’t stop at rescuing me. You predestined me to adoption as a son through Jesus, according to the good pleasure of Your will. Help me to rest in the reality that I am accepted in the Beloved—not because of anything I’ve done, but because of Your grace. Let that truth quiet my fears and free me to live as a child who knows they belong. May my life bring praise to the glory of Your grace. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Key Takeaways
- God’s plan for His people includes not only rescue but full adoption into His family with all the rights of sons.
- The decision was made according to the good pleasure of His will—rooted in His delight, not our merit.
- We are accepted in the Beloved; our standing before the Father rests on Christ, not on our performance.
- The ultimate aim of this grace is the praise of His glory, so the focus stays on Him rather than on us.
- In love, God makes what He predestined real in Christ—secure, personal, and full of grace.
Proverb for Today
Listen to counsel and receive instruction, That you may be wise in your latter days. There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand. Proverbs 19:20-21 NKJV
Daily Scripture
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13 NKJV
Closing
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 NKJV
Grace be with you. Amen.
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Commentaries:
Enduring Word
Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself: This is the Father’s destiny for His chosen – that they would enjoy adoption as sons. God’s unfolding plan for us not only includes salvation and personal transformation, but also a warm, confident relationship with the Father. (Guzik)
i. In Roman law, “When the adoption was complete it was complete indeed. The person who had been adopted had all the rights of a legitimate son in his new family and completely lost all rights in his old family. In the eyes of the law he was a new person. So new was he that even all debts and obligations connected with his previous family were abolished as if they had never existed.” (Barclay)
ii. Gaebelein takes the thought even further: “Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are not adopted into the family of God; they are born into the family. The Greek has only one word ‘Sonplace.’ We are placed into the position of Sons.” (Guzik)
iii. This high position in the family of God gives us something in Jesus that Adam never had. “When people ask us the speculative question why God went ahead with the creation when he knew that it would be followed by the fall, one answer we can tentatively give is that he destined us for a higher dignity than even creation would bestow on us.” (Stott)
To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved: The relational aspect is emphasized again as Paul describes the status of accepted (charito, “highly favored” or “full of grace” as in Luke 1:28) that is granted to every believer because of God’s grace. (Guzik)
i. Jesus was completely accepted by the Father. All His character, all His words, all His work was acceptable to God the Father. And now we are accepted in the Beloved. (Guzik)
ii. Paul realized this plan gave glory to the grace of God. “By the giving of the LAW, God’s justice and holiness were rendered most glorious; by the giving of the GOSPEL, his grace and mercy are made equally glorious.” (Clarke) God’s plan in the gospel is often rejected because it glorifies God and His grace and not the effort or achievement of man. (Guzik)
iii. Bruce on the idea of being accepted by God on the standing of grace: “God’s grace has extended to his people and enfolded them: he has ‘be-graced’ them, says Paul (using a verb derived from the Greek word for ‘grace’).” (Guzik)
iv. Chrysostom, speaking of the work by which God makes us accepted in the Beloved: “It is as if one were to take a leper and change him into a lovely youth.”
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Albert Barnes
Having predestinated us — On the meaning of the word here used, see the notes at Romans 1:4; Romans 8:29, note. The word used πρωρίζω prōrizō means properly “to set bounds before;” and then to “pre-determine.” There is the essential idea of setting bounds or limits, and of doing this beforehand. It is not that God determined to do it when it was actually done, but that he intended to do it beforehand. No language could express this more clearly, and I suppose this interpretation is generally admitted. Even by those who deny the doctrine of particular election, it is not denied that the word here used means to “pre-determine;” and they maintain that the sense is, that God had pre-determined to admit the Gentiles to the privileges of his people.
According to the good pleasure of his will — The word rendered “good pleasure” – (εὐδοκία eudokia) – means “a being well pleased;” delight in anything, favor, good-will, Luke 2:14; Philippians 1:15; compare Luke 12:32. Rosenmuller renders the phrase, “from his most benignant decree.” The evident object of the apostle is to state why God chose the heirs of salvation. It was done as it seemed good to him in the circumstances of the case. It was not that man had any control over him, or that man was consulted in the determination, or that it was based on the good works of man, real or foreseen. But we are not to suppose that there were no good reasons for what he has thus done. Convicts are frequently pardoned by an executive. He does it according to his own will, or as seems good in his sight.
To the praise of the glory of his grace — This is a Hebraism, and means the same as “to his glorious grace.” The object was to excite thanksgiving for his glorious grace manifested in electing love. The real tendency of the doctrine in minds that are properly affected, is not to excite opposition to God, or to lead to the charge of partiality, tyranny, or severity; it is to excite thankfulness and praise. In accordance with this, Paul introduced the statement Ephesians 1:3 by saying that God was to be regarded as “blessed” for forming and executing this plan. The meaning is, that the doctrine of predestination and election lays the foundation of adoring gratitude and praise.
In the Beloved — In the Lord Jesus Christ, the well-beloved Son of God; notes, Matthew 3:17. He has chosen us in him, and it is through him that these mercies have been conferred on us.
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John Gill
Having predestinated us,…. Predestination, taken in a large sense, includes both election and reprobation, and even reaches to all affairs and occurrences in the world; to the persons, lives, and circumstances of men; to all mercies, temporal or spiritual; and to all afflictions, whether in love or in wrath: and indeed providence, or the dispensations of providence, are no other than the execution of divine predestination; but here it is the same with election, and is concerned with the same persons, and has regard to a special blessing, the elect are appointed to, as follows;
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto himself; by which is meant, either the grace of adoption, which is an act of the Father’s love, a blessing provided and secured in the covenant of grace; and is of persons to an inheritance, to which they have no legal right; and is entirely free, there being no need on the adopter’s part, and no worth on the part of the adopted: or rather the inheritance they are adopted to; which exceeds all others, is incorruptible, undefiled, and fades not away; and lies among the saints in light, and belongs to all the children of God: and this they are predestinated unto by God the Father, who takes them into his family, puts them among the children, and gives them a goodly heritage: and that “by Jesus Christ”; or through him; for both the grace of adoption, and the kingdom and glory they are adopted to, come by and through him as Mediator; through his espousing their persons, assuming their nature, and redeeming them from under the law and its curses; through his giving them a power and privilege openly to be the sons of God; and through faith in him, whereby they are manifestly such: the phrase “unto himself,” either refers to God the Father, who has chosen, set apart, formed and reserved his people and children for himself, for his peculiar treasure, and for his own glory; or to Jesus Christ, that he might have some brethren, and they be conformed to him, and he be the firstborn among them, and in all things have the pre-eminence; and that they might be with him, and behold his glory, and he be glorified in them: and this act of divine predestination was
according to the good pleasure of his will: the will of God is the rule of all his actions, and of all his acts of grace and goodness; and the good pleasure of it appears in the predestination of men to grace and glory: and from hence it is manifest, that foreseen faith, holiness, and good works, are excluded from being the moving cases of predestinating grace; and that it is wholly to be resolved into the good will and pleasure of God;
To the praise of the glory of his grace,…. The grace of God manifestly appears in the predestination of men to adoption; in that God had no need of sons, he having a dear and well beloved one; in whom he is well pleased; and in that those he adopts are so unworthy of the relation; and in that men, and not angels, should be taken by him into his family; and that some, and not others of the same race; and that this should be before the world was; and in providing Christ as a Redeemer, to open the way for the reception of this grace and happiness; and in appointing the grace of faith to be the receiver of it: and the glory of the grace of God appears herein; the glory of God is the supreme end of all he does; and the glory of his grace, and not his power, or other perfections of his, and the manifestative glory of that is here intended; yea, the “praise” of that glory: and this end is answered, when the children of God ascribe their adoption to the free grace of God; and when they admire it, and are thankful for it, and walk worthy of the relation they are brought into:
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved; the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read, “his own beloved Son,” and so the Claromontane exemplar; the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the beloved of God the Father; and was so from everlasting, and will be so to everlasting; which has appeared by his nearness to him, lying in his bosom; by his being privy to all his counsels, purposes, and designs; in putting all things into his hands, and in showing him all that he does; and by his giving him honor and glory, as man and Mediator: and he is the beloved of the saints, for the transcendent excellencies that are in him, and for his love to them, and for what he has done for them, and is unto them; and in him is their acceptance: which is to be understood of the acceptance of their persons, as founded in the blood and righteousness of Christ, and so of their services in him; of God’s act of delight and complacency in them, as considered in Christ; who looks upon them, and is well pleased with them, and rests in his love towards them; which is an amazing instance of grace: it was grace that gave them a being in Christ, and which has provided in predestination everything to make them grateful to God; and the very act of acceptance is of mere grace; for internal grace, or grace infused, is not here meant, but the free favor of God: some read not “in which,” but “which” ecaritwsen, “he freely gave us in the beloved”; so the Alexandrian copy, and some others, and the Syriac and Arabic versions.
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Matthew Henry
Here is also the rule and the fontal cause of God’s election: it is according to the good pleasure of his will (v. 5), not for the sake of any thing in them foreseen, but because it was his sovereign will, and a thing highly pleasing to him. It is according to the purpose, the fixed and unalterable will, of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will (v. 11), who powerfully accomplishes whatever concerns his elect, as he has wisely and freely fore-ordained and decreed, the last and great end and design of all which is his own glory: To the praise of the glory of his grace (v. 6), that we should be to the praise of his glory (v. 12), that is, that we should live and behave ourselves in such a manner that his rich grace might be magnified, and appear glorious, and worthy of the highest praise. All is of God, and from him, and through him, and therefore all must be to him, and centre in his praise. Note, The glory of God is his own end, and it should be ours in all that we do. This passage has been understood by some in a very different sense, and with a special reference to the conversion of these Ephesians to Christianity. Those who have a mind to see what is said to this purpose may consult Mr. Locke, and other well-known writers, on the place.
The next spiritual blessing the apostle takes notice of is acceptance with God through Jesus Christ: Wherein, or by which grace, he hath made us accepted in the beloved, v. 6. Jesus Christ is the beloved of his Father (Mt. 3:17), as well as of angels and saints. It is our great privilege to be accepted of God, which implies his love to us and his taking us under his care and into his family. We cannot be thus accepted of God, but in and through Jesus Christ. He loves his people for the sake of the beloved.
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Calvin’s Commentary
Lest anything should still be wanting, he adds, ἐχαρίτωσεν ἐν χάριτι This intimates, that, in the freest manner, and on no mercenary grounds, does God bestow upon us his love and favor, just as, when we were not yet born, and when he was prompted by nothing but his own will, he fixed upon us his choice.
The material cause both of eternal election, and of the love which is now revealed, is Christ, the Beloved. This name is given, to remind us that by him the love of God is communicated to us. Thus he is the well-beloved, in order that we may be reconciled by him. The highest and last end is immediately added, the glorious praise of such abundant grace. Every man, therefore, who hides this glory, is endeavoring to overturn the everlasting purpose of God. Such is the doctrine of the sophists, which entirely overturns the doctrine of Christ, lest the whole glory of our salvation should be ascribed undividedly to God alone.
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